1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reversible thermosensitive recording medium capable of improving defective coloring at the time of forming images as well as defective color erasing at the time of erasing images and reducing damages of an information processing unit, the image processing method, and the image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known that providing an information processing unit with a reversible thermosensitive recording medium enables rewriting inside information of the information processing unit as well as forming an image in the reversible thermosensitive recording medium based on the recording information.
When an image is formed or erased in such a reversible thermosensitive recording medium, a heating apparatus such as a thermal head, a heat roller, and a ceramic bar is pressed against the reversible thermosensitive recording medium, and convex was formed on the reversible thermosensitive recording medium due to the presence of the information processing unit. Therefore, it is unable to uniformly heat the reversible thermosensitive recording medium when a heating apparatus is heated against the reversible thermosensitive recording medium, causing failures of color developing and color erasing. Further, the following problems arise when a heating apparatus is pressed against a reversible thermosensitive recording medium. At the portion where the information developing unit which comprises an information recording element is provided in the reversible thermosensitive recording medium, the information processing unit peals off from the reversible thermosensitive recording medium or is damaged.
Then, there have been a structure known in which only the area where a non-contact IC tag is not attached to a non-contact IC tag-mounted reversible thermosensitive recording medium is heated (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-98539). With the above structure, it is possible to prevent thermal damages of the non-contact IC tag and prevent nonuniformity in color erasing and color developing. However, with this method, the area used for forming an image is restricted.
On the other hand, a pressure sensitive adhesive sheet has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2002-258751. The pressure sensitive adhesive sheet comprises a thermosensitive recording layer disposed on one side of a cushioning base and a tacky layer disposed on the opposite surface of the cushioning base, and the pressure sensitive adhesive sheet is affixed on a surface of a data carrier with an IC circuit having an antenna part and an information-memorizing part embedded into the base material. However, with this structure, it is hard to produce a reversible thermosensitive recording medium having flexibility because the information-memorizing part is embedded into the base material, and applications thereof are restricted.